Southampton are said to be in the market with Newcastle for an International midfielder who is now out of contract for MLS Club Real Salt Lake City and who wants to play again for a top flight club in Europe.

Slovakian internaional Albert Rusnak has just left Salt Lake City after 5 years in the MLS, the American side were keen to sign him up for another deal, but the attacking central midfielder although seemingly keen to sign up again has failed to agree terms with the club and is now a free agent.

Saints and Newcastle are said to be interested, although with their mega bucks it is hard to see why Newcastle would want to sign anyone on a free,

Rusnak has form in England, he started off as a trainee with Manchester City in 2010 and stayed at the club until 2015.

Although he did not make any first team appearances for City he did have two spells out on loan, firstly at Oldham and then at Birmingham City, although neither spell was successful and he was said to be a bit lightweight for the Championship and League One.

He spent a half season on loan at Eridivisie club SC Cambuur and he impressed so much that Dutch rivals Groningen bought him on a permanent basis in January 2015, an almost instant hit at the end of the season he scored both goals as Groningen beat PEC Zwolle in the final of the Dutch cup, their first major trophy and qualifying them for the Europa League.

After two years at the club and having scored 7 goals in 57 Eridivisie appearances he moved to Real Salt Lake in January 2017 in time for their 2017 season.

He stayed for 5 seasons racking up 146 appearances, scoring 42 goals plus 29 assists.

He has also played 33 times for Slovakia scoring 7 goals.

Now he is being linked with Saints and as a free agent and with Saints lacking a genuine play maker in the midfield since Dusan Tadic left the club, he could be worth a short term deal.

At 27 he should be approaching his prime although he is at the top end of the age group that Saints have looked at in recent times.

How much of this rumour actually holds water is hard to tell, but he is the type of player that Saints would normally be interested in if he was a couple of years younger, however being a free agent could make him an attractive gamble, especially if it was to be a short term deal.

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 15:41 - Jan 10 Looks like a promising prospect on paper. Had his best time in MLS league in the last few seasons, and is an established international. Your mention of Dusan Tadic, (Nick) ...reminds me that DT is one player we really do miss and have never properly replaced since he left. As a free agent, offering Rusnak a half-decent salary would seem like a no-brainer, as we would be avoiding a costly transfer fee. Why not ?

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Chesham_Saint added 16:16 - Jan 10 MSL? You're having a laugh surely? Might as well sign a player from the WSL...
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